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Who Was That (Oxygen)Masked Man, Anyway?

Residents of the West Side in Manchester, NH, have an answer to
one of their most pressing questions: Why was a military aircraft
roaring low over their homes Tuesday and is there anything to be
worried about?

The answers: That was a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet cruising low over
the 'hood. The aircraft, dispatched from Maine's Brunswick Naval
Air Station. The aircraft, based at NAS Oceana in Virginia, was on
a testing and evaluation mission.

The Hornet was, in short, acting as target in the testing of a
new target acquisition radar recently installed on an Aegis-class
cruiser steaming just offshore.

Authorities received several dozen complaints about the
low-flying aircraft since Tuesday evening. The pilot performed
several abrupt-looking maneuvers. When the Manchester Union-Leader
asked NAS Brunswick spokesman John James, he responded, "They do
that."

Manchester Airport's assistant director, Brian O'Neill, told the
Union-Leader no one in the tower was talking to the Hornet driver.
But, he said, that's not unusual and "We had no issues [with
him]."